If you really think about it, the goal of everyone’s life comes down to two words: Don’t Die. Unfortunately, that’s a motto that eventually proves impossible for everyone – and eventually can come a lot sooner if you’re a black male living in the crosshairs of a police trigger. Not literally about Trayvon Martin but with obvious parallels to the slain teen, Killer Mike’s new offering is every bit as musically adventurous, politically angry and lyrically courageous as his previous offerings Untitled and Big Beast. With Def Jux alum El-P manning the boards Don’t Die’s instrumental(s) switches repeatedly, giving Die the feel of a play unwinding in three acts. Lyrically, Mike is as fearless as ever, saying what so many of us think but aren’t willing to say: “If I gotta kill a copper just to make it out the buildin / that mother**ker getting left dead, no feelings.” If I can be allowed a moment of personal opinion, I can’t wait for Mike and El-P’s collaborative album, R.A.P. Music, to drop on May 15. The world needs more hip-hop that’s not afraid to truly say something.

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The story of Killer Mike’s career is the story of non-fu*k giving. When Mike first came onto the national stage Snappin & Trappin alongside Outkast he had the cojones to call his own verse a classic, a move some considered...
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